UKC

Anybody tried cycling it ?

In reply to dondon:

Looking at the pics of the failure it would be easy to cycle the route

In reply to Philb1950:

The question I guess is whether this is permitted, or whether security staff or Police are present to prevent it.

In reply to Neil Williams:

Indeed. I would have thought it unlikely that the authorities would post somebody there indefinitely just to stop cyclists and walkers - it's not like when they're doing roadworks and there is heavy machinery moving around - but you never know.

I'm planning on having a look tomorrow am, I'll let you know how it goes. Unless somebody else posts on here and tells me not to waste my time!

In reply to dondon:

Just back from a trip up from Glossop to the summit and back. Other than a couple of uninterested looking workmen about 2/3 of the way up who waved me through there was no issue for bikes. I didn't go over the other side so can't comment on the actual landslip zone.

They banned cyclists in the autumn while there was heavy machinery around, but it all looks fine for now.

Glorious today, sunny with a tailwind and a light dusting of snow towards the top!

In reply to dondon:

Would be interested to know how you got on. I'm thinking of doing the local Ring of Fire soon. I'm in training for LEJOG in May.

In reply to Deleated bagger:

Where's it closed? Can you get up to pass from Glossop at the mo? Other half is up there at the weekend and was planning some walks..

In reply to dondon:

Is it not a traffic offence to pass a road closed sign?

I cycled to the top and back from the Sheffield side this morning. There were two guys in a maintenance van at Ladybower to stop cars going through, but they were ignoring bikes. Judging by the number of bikes coming in the opposite direction, you can get through from the Glossop end too, although I didn't go down that side. 

In reply to dondon:

I have not idea of the official policy, but they have said vehicle access is still permitted for access to properties, which I assume means they don't consider the road to be so structurally unsound as to be a unsafe for pedestrians or push bikes. 

Would be good to see photos of the damage.

In reply to Jenny C:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-60498001

In reply to scope:

It’s also a traffic offence to close pass cyclists, but given this happens 10000 times an hour* in the UK cycling on a safe but closed road seems to pale in comparison.

*unverified obvs. Let’s not mention speeding shall we?

In reply to ianstevens:

Two wrongs..

In reply to scope:

Agreed. But if we are going to barely enforce the rules for car users (when they are actually incredibly dangerous for others) seems only fair to barely enforce rule for cyclists (especially when they cause little danger to others).

In reply to ianstevens:

I guess there are two separate questions here:

1. What exactly is the law relating to cyclist and road closures, and 

2. What is the 'norm' (i.e., accepted practice and hence a reasonable defense).

As far as I can find with a bit of digging, assuming the closure has been properly (legally) done, then cyclist on a highway are deemed to be 'traffic' and as such the closure also applies to them. I have no idea how this applies to pedestrians and hence to a cyclist pushing - rather than riding - their bike.

As for the norm, in all my years cycling I have only to my memory twice encountered a road closure which didn't have either a stream of cyclists going through a perfectly safe route, or been waved through by workmen ("Just be careful if you seen any machinery on the road"). I'm tempted to think that both those would be a 'reasonable' defense. In fact a lot of recent closure signs I've seen seem to have explicit exemptions for cyclists & pedestrians.

In reply to Marek:

The only thing which springs to mind for me, is making sure not to fall off or need medical help, since it 'could be annoying' for anybody involved when they ponder about driving along the Snake and what have you.

I'd feel a bit sheepish...

In reply to Timmd:

Not to mention the difficulty the emergency services might have getting to you.

In reply to phizz4:

Why would you mention it? Most people on this forum do things more hazardous than riding on a tarmac road with no traffic, and mostly we do it some distance away from such a road, and even in rocky places with no road at all!

In reply to phizz4:

Would it be more of less difficult than I fell off a route a few miles away on Dovestone tor and required rescuing?

Maybe we should just stop going outside.

In reply to dondon:

They weren't letting cyclists through during the day yesterday (Friday 4March); wife & friend tried and the contractors said there was no access; apparently one of the digger drivers was getting concerned about cyclists coming through.

Might well change again and could be different at weekends and 'out-of-hours'.

In reply to ChrisJD:

8 March 2022 Update:

Now formally closed to all users, with barriers and 24/7 'monitoring' by DCC.

https://twitter.com/Derbyshirecc/status/1501195447163105283?s=20&t=fVdq...

And looks like the landslip is still on the move:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-60663123

The landslip (the one in the BBC Article) is here:

https://goo.gl/maps/acmRR8WEGfQvRsuP6

In reply to phizz4:

In that case definitely don’t go for a walk on Kinder or Bleaklow.  

In reply to ChrisJD:

Thanks, that’s useful to know, if disappointing.

Does anyone happen to know if it’s true that you can’t start remedial work until the ground stops moving? Given the recent history of land slips on the Snake, it might be a long wait.

In reply to ChrisJD:

One of the newspapers (forget which one, I saw it on Apple News) featured it, so people were probably headed there from all around to have a go.  I read the article and thought it was a bit irresponsible to publish it and that that would be the likely outcome.  Would have been better for it to be a small number each day based on word of mouth.

In reply to rsc:

It is, yes, unless you like setting fire to £50 notes.  It could be months.

There are options if it doesn't stop moving, e.g. pile driving a good few metres down into rock and mounting what is basically a bridge on top of the piles, so the land can continue to move underneath.  That was what was eventually done on the Settle-Carlisle railway, but even that took I think close to a year and was incredibly expensive.

Edit: slightly over a year.  Here's a video from Network Rail about it.  The slip was much bigger but the problems similar:

youtube.com/watch?v=0hP8pEkRgPI&

In reply to Currently Resting:

Councils have different legal responsibilities for roads than they do for footpaths, even if that doesn't actually make logical sense.  Also I wouldn't be surprised if workers had been given gobfuls of abuse for e.g. blocking it for a period while doing the work - there is, unfortunately, always one.

What I don't understand is why they can't just block off the ends of the part where work is needed and let people cycle up and down on one side only.

In reply to Neil Williams:

Here's my Ground Conceptual Model, lol.  (image from Streetview)

You can even see an ongoing failure (red arrow); probably a spring line?

Geology should be Bowland Shale Fm. This is the same formation as the Old Mam Tor Road - and we know how stable that is. 

In reply to Neil Williams:

Are they concerned about the 'precedent' of cyclists using it as though it is a closed road? They don't want a bunch of boy racers coming up to use it as a closed road (they are bad enough when then road is supposed to be open)

In reply to ChrisJD: Great, now cyclists will have to share the already dangerous Woodhead Pass that now has all the extra traffic diverted from the Snake Pass

In reply to rsc:

You absolutely can start remedial work before the ground stops moving and this is frequently done. The long wait will be if DCC undertake the work as opposed to a specialist contractor.

In reply to Philb1950:

I must admit that behind my question was some scepticism about DCC’s (lack of) sense of urgency. The Snake is a long way from County offices in Matlock and from most of the county, and it mainly serves people from Sheffield and Greater Manchester.  Why should they spend money on it? 
Signed

Frustrated of Glossop 

In reply to dondon:

I cycled it on Sunday. The main landslip is quite considerable, about a third of the road has slipped down the slope by 6-10ft for about a 50m section. 

In reply to rsc:

It’s not lack of urgency, they. regularity waste thousands filling in bridleways with stone chips that wash away after heavy rain increasing user danger, whilst ignoring potholed roads. No, their  in-house capabilities are limited and the direct labour force only work about 5 hours per day and never in cold or rain. 

In reply to dondon:

Mass Ride/Walk/Run on Saturday for those interested.....

https://twitter.com/HarryHamishGray/status/1501532360759812098?s=20&t=1... 

In reply to galpinos:

Also: https://www.thestar.co.uk/business/cyclists-organise-mass-trespass-on-snake...

Edit to add..
There's a good photo of the current state of the road there.  Hang on a sec, I'll nick it..